Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Audi
and Mercedes-Benz are targeting at least a fourth consecutive
year of record sales in 2014 as new compacts tighten the race
among the German rivals for the luxury-car industry’s lead.

BMW, the No. 1 seller of premium cars, delivered just
79,600 vehicles more than Volkswagen AG’s Audi last year, versus
85,000 in 2012, while the gap with Daimler AG’s Mercedes
narrowed to 193,500 from 220,000.

A sedan version of Audi’s A3 hatchback and the addition of
the CLA coupe to Mercedes’s A- and B-Class compact line-up are
part of those companies’ plans to beat sales at BMW by the end
of the decade. The Munich-based manufacturer will seek to keep
its edge in the stiffening competition by adding the 2-Series
coupe. The three manufacturers are battling for new customers in
the growing Chinese and U.S. markets as economic woes in Europe
hamper demand in their home region.

“The luxury-car makers will continue to grow over-proportionally in 2014,” said Sascha Gommel, a Commerzbank AG
analyst in Frankfurt. “The U.S. is helped by cheap financing
options, and in China the regional expansion of dealerships and
the general economic growth supports demand.”

BMW has been the top luxury-vehicle seller worldwide since
dethroning Stuttgart-based Mercedes in 2005. Last year was the
third in a row of all-time high deliveries at both carmakers,
while Ingolstadt-based Audi has reported annual vehicle-sales
records since 2010.

Maserati Growth

VW’s Porsche sports-car unit, which sold a record 162,145
vehicles in 2013, is also targeting further growth this year as
the new Macan compact SUV wins first-time customers, Bernhard
Maier, the brand’s sales chief, said yesterday at the North
American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Maserati, owned by Fiat SpA, expects record demand in 2014
pushed by a “significant” increase in the U.S., Chief
Executive Officer Harald Wester said in an interview yesterday.

The Italian luxury-car maker, which started deliveries of
$65,600 Ghibli sedan in the U.S. at the end of 2013, will add 20
dealers in the country this year, he said.

Maserati is “on pace” to boost sales eightfold to 50,000
in 2015 on deliveries of new models, including its first ever
SUV to be introduced next year, Wester said.

Demand for BMW’s mid-sized 3-series sedan, the premium
segment’s best-selling model, and the X1 compact SUV propelled
the German company’s delivery gains last year. Ian Robertson,
BMW sales chief, said in Detroit yesterday that Chinese sales
may rise at a “double-digit” percentage rate this year, while
the U.S. is returning to pre-recession growth trends.

Mercedes Challenge

BMW is displaying the 2-Series compact in Detroit. Starting
in the first quarter, the car will replace the company’s 1-Series model in the U.S., where the company lost its first-place
sales rank to Mercedes last year.

Other Mercedes challengers to BMW models in 2014 will
include a new version of the C-Class sedan, which will take on
the 3-Series, and the GLA compact SUV, intended to counter the
X1. Both vehicles will enter German showrooms in March.

“We finished 2013 with a lot of momentum and expect this
to continue this year with our new models,” Daimler CEO Dieter
Zetsche said yesterday at a Detroit press conference. The full
year of the revamped flagship S-Class sedan’s availability and
the compact-car lineup will probably drive demand in 2014, while
sales of the C-Class will “experience some effects from the
model changeover.”

Audi Gains

Audi is introducing the A3 sedan in the U.S. this year
following a rollout in Europe in 2013, and also plans to begin
selling a revamped version of the TT coupe. Over the next five
years, Audi has budgeted 22 billion euros ($30 billion) in
investments to expand its lineup to 60 models from 49 and add
production capacity in China, Brazil and Mexico.

Lamborghini SpA will start deliveries of the new Huracan
sports car in the second half of this year, Stephan Winkelmann,
head of VW’s Italian marque, said in Detroit. Supercar market
conditions in 2014 involve “light and shadow,” with North
American demand probably growing and European sales stable or
showing a “slight decline,” he said.

VW’s Bentley Motors brand plans to build this year on last
year’s record sales of 10,120 vehicles, CEO Wolfgang Schreiber
said yesterday in an interview. Bentley sold 2,005 of the new
Flying Spur in the last four months of 2013 after it became
available in all markets, the Crewe, England-based automaker
said last week.

Bentley’s U.S. sales grew 28 percent last year, helping the
brand gain about 3 percentage points of market share, said
Christophe Georges, Bentley’s North America chief. Georges said
he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the U.S. this year.

“Our consumers are much more sensitive to market
conditions,” he said in an interview today. “It’s a matter of
being in the right mood to reward yourself.”